Next Generation Water Recovery for a Sustainable Closed Loop Living

Among the numerous technological advances sought in order to facilitate human space travel, solutions and innovations are needed for techniques that supports the mass- and energy-efficient maintenance of closed air, water, and waste systems in spacecraft habitats that operate within microgravity. As missions are foreseen to be extended with limited earth resupply available there is need to develop durable and sustainable closed loop living systems. Waste water treatment and recovery system that is managed by ECLSS on board the ISS is one such system that has lifetime/durability limitations and would benefit from improvements to increase its lifetime efficiency. Therefore, in order to achieve NASA?s goals of extended manned deep space missions, Faraday Technology Inc. and Dr. Carlos Cabrera of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) propose to develop a technique to eliminate many of the contaminants that commonly foul the waste water treatment system and produce a more durable closed loop process compatible with existing ECLSS mainframe to treat and recover water. In this program, UPR will develop enzyme based bio-reactor to efficiently convert urea to ammonia, while Faraday will scale and optimize ammonia electrolyzer incorporating custom-fabricated gas diffusion cathode and anode. This integrated system is anticipated to enable significant performance enhancement by reducing osmosis membrane fouling caused by contaminants from the waste stream and thereby increasing the efficiency and durability of the treatment process. This technology has the potential to be compatible with existing ECLSS systems and be an integral part of the closed loop living systems required for long term life support on NASA?s manned space missions.

As manned space missions are foreseen to be extend with limited earth resupply available, the ECLSS will need to become more durable to support closed loop living. At present, waste water recovery and treatment systems within the ECLSS recover ~85% of the water with marked decrease in lifetime and process efficiency due to osmosis membrane durability and fouling issues. The proposed bio-electrochemical system consisting of a bioreactor and ammonia electrolyzer will eliminate many of the contaminants that commonly foul the RO system and produce a more sustainable wastewater treatment and water recovery system. This system offers a practical addition to the existing process stream and could reduce replacement of the osmotic components.

The specific application as described by the program solicitation topic is for manned space system, but the proposed development would be valuable in a broad range of other settings as well. Some potential installation/sales targets include waste water treatment facilities, naval warships, and military field hospitals. In 2015 United Nations reported that more than 40% of global population is affected by water scarcity and this number continues to increase. For this reason water recovery from waste water is essential to human race. The proposed innovation thus has the potential to be useful in regions where water is scarce commodity or water recovery would be invaluable.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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